Blumen Gardens

The story

Blumen Gardens was founded in 1989 as a small landscaping operation that started by growing plants in the owners' backyard. By 1993, after renting space elsewhere, the Barczaks purchased the abandoned 4.5-acre property at 403 Edward Street, which had been left to decay. The site consisted of two structures: a small white railroad weigh station and a massive dilapidated factory building dating to the 1860s from Sycamore's industrial heyday. Over the following years, the couple painstakingly renovated these historic buildings, preserving their character while adapting the spaces for modern use. Today the property houses a retail garden shop, an on-site plant nursery, workshop space, a landscape design studio, and an event venue accommodating up to 240 people for weddings and private events.

Everything that was here

• 1993–present · still open

  Blumen GardensStore

  A dilapidated factory from the 1860s became a garden center when Joan and Joel Barczak purchased the property in 1993 and transformed the industrial ruins into one of Northern Illinois' premier wedding venues.

  See the map in 1994 →
• 1892–present

  Wire Manufacturing Companies (including Anaconda)Factory

  After the Ellwood family moved on, the factory at 403 Edward became home to a succession of wire manufacturers who capitalized on Sycamore's position in the barbed-wire boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

  See the map in 1893 →
• 1875–1892

  Reuben Ellwood ManufacturingFactory

  When Reuben Ellwood, Sycamore's first mayor and a U.S. congressman, built his manufacturing operation at 403 Edward Street, he was betting on the same industrial vision that made his brother Isaac a barbed-wire pioneer.

  See the map in 1876 →
• 1869–1881

  Marsh Harvester ManufacturingFactory

  When Sycamore was incorporated as a city in 1869, Marsh Harvester Manufacturing moved into the brand-new factory at 403 Edward Street, making it one of the first industrial tenants in the town's new industrial district.

  See the map in 1870 →

Did you know?

Nearby history